Peureulak Sultanate orPerlak Sultanate is the earliestsultanate inSoutheast Asia,[1] believed to have converted toIslam as early as the 9th century.[2] The location of Peureulak is in what is now theEast Aceh Regency,Indonesia.
Perlak or Peureulak is well known as aperlak wood producing area, a type of wood that is very good for ship building and house building.[3] Its natural products and strategic position made Perlak develop as a commercial port that advanced in the 8th century, visited by ships which included Arab and Persian origin. This led to the development of Islamic societies in this area, mainly as a result of mixed marriages between Muslim merchants and local women.
TheHikayat Aceh text reveals that the spread ofIslam in northernSumatra was carried out by anArab scholar named Sheikh Abdullah Arif in 1112. The book Zhufan Zhi (諸蕃 志), written by Zhao Rugua in 1225, cited the record of a geographer, Chou Ku-fei, in 1178 that there is aMuslim country with only five days of voyage fromJava. Perhaps the intended land is Peureulak because Chu-fan-chi declared a voyage fromJava toBrunei took 15 days. The existence of the Peureulak state was reinforced by the famous Venetian travellerMarco Polo a century later. WhenMarco Polo returned from China by the sea in 1291, he stopped in the state of Ferlec who had embracedIslam.[4]
The first Sultan of Perlak wasSultan Alaiddin Syed Maulana Abdul Aziz Shah, a Shiite of Arabian descent, who founded the Perlak Sultanate on1 Muharram 225 H (840 AD).[5] He renamed the royal capital fromBandar Perlak to Caliph City. The Sultan was buried inPaya Meuligo, Peureulak, East Aceh, alongside his wife, Princess Meurah Mahdum Khudawi.[6]
During the reign of the third sultan, Sultan Alaiddin Syed Maulana Abbas Shah, theSunni movement began to enter Perlak. After the death of the sultan in 363 AH (913 AD), there was a civil war between Shiite and Sunnis so that for the next two years there was no sultan. The Shiites won the war and in 302 H (915 AD) and Sultan Alaiddin Syed Maulana Ali Mughat Shah from the Shi'ite stream ascended. At the end of his reign, there was another turmoil between Shiite andSunni rulers. This time, theSunni rulers won and subsequent sultans came from theSunni stream.
In 362 H (956 AD), after the death of the seventh sultan, Sultan Makhdum Alaiddin Abdul Malik Shah Johan Sovereignty, there was another upheaval for about four years betweenShia andSunni which ended with peace and division of the empire into two parts:
Sultan Alaiddin Syed Maulana Shah died when theKingdom of Sriwijaya invaded Perlak and the whole of Perlak reunited under the leadership of Sultan Makhdum Alaiddin Malik Ibrahim Shah Johan Berdaulat, who continued the struggle againstSriwijaya until 1006.
The 17th Sultan of Perlak, Sultan Makhdum Alaiddin Malik Muhammad Amin Shah II Johan Berdaulat (ruled 1230 – 1267) carried out friendship politics by marrying his daughter Princess Ganggang, to the King of the Kingdom of Pasai, Al Malik al-Saleh.
The last Sultan of Perlak was the 18th Sultan, Sultan Makhdum Alaiddin Malik Abdul Aziz Johan Berdaulat (ruled 1267 – 1292). After he died, Perlak was united with the Samudera Pasai Kingdom under the reign of Sultan Samudera Pasai, Sultan Muhammad Malik Al Zahir, son of Al Malik al-Saleh.
Perlak was the center of early Islamic learning in theMalay Archipelago. The Perlak sultans patronized foreign scholars and missionaries who were mainly PersianShi'ites. The Islamic scholars from Perlak also worked as missionaries further afield to convert theMalays living across theStrait of Malacca.Sunni Islam became popular by the reign of Sultan Alaiddin Syed Maulana Abbas Shah and both sects flourished and at times influenced each other. Despite the division of Perlak into two kingdoms, both continued to dispatch missionaries to nearby Malay kingdoms.[2]
The Perlak sultans can be grouped into two dynasties: the Syed Maulana Abdul Azis Shah dynasty and the Johan Bedaulat dynasty.
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